Home4000-FootersOther White Mountain TripsTrail WorkOther StatesMemorabilia

Map

  Flume-Liberty page: 

1

2

3

4

 
Mt Flume, Mt Liberty - page 2 of 4

The ledges are often wet from seep springs, but luckily were dry today, which made climbing a lot easier. The White Mountain Guide discourages you from climbing up this trail in wet weather, and advises you not to descend it at any time. The photos I took don't come close to showing the steepness and roughness of this trail. In many places, tree roots and branches were the only things I had to grab on to pull myself up the taller ledges.

After a long climb, I finally reached the top of the slide. The trail wound steeply uphill from here through the increasingly scrubby fir and spruce trees until it reached the Franconia Ridge/Osseo Trail junction on the ridge. From there, the Franconia Ridge Trail climbed quickly to the narrow rocky summit of Mt Flume. Several slides tumble downhill sharply into the notch below. You can see these slides from the highway, but none of them are the one that the Flume Slide Trail ascends.

The top of Mt Flume is a craggy ridge with several rocky outcrops. From the true summit, you can look across to one of these crags. Through occasional breaks in the fog, I got glimpses of other peaks in the distance, but the haze made it hard to see them clearly.  

Looking down the Flume Slide Trail from near the point where the trail veers left off the slide and into the woods.

flume slide trail 3.jpg (80903 bytes)

Looking down another slide. Mt Flume actually has a number of slides, some of which are quite noticeable from Franconia Notch. This one is steeper than the slide the trail ascends, although the photo doesn't do it justice.

looking down a slide.jpg (60816 bytes)

Outcrop just south of Mt Flume's summit. The summit area is very craggy and rough. 

flume outcrop.jpg (30332 bytes)

Me on the summit of Mt Flume. Behind me are Mts Lincoln and Lafayette. The man who was climbing with his teenage son took this picture for me.

me on flume.jpg (29824 bytes)

Mt Washington from the summit of Mt Flume. If you look closely, you can see the cliffs of Mt Bondcliff directly in front of Mt Washington, although the foggy air causes both mountains to blend into one.

view east from flume.jpg (22772 bytes)

Map

  Flume-Liberty page: 

1

2

3

4